Family Day at the Falls

On our first official Oregon outing, we headed to Multnomah Falls. By we, I mean our family of five, Kevin's parents, and my friend Rebecca and her family that drove up from California to see us in Oregon.  We got off to a bit of a late start, stopped at a lookout point, made it to the Falls, decided we were all too hungry for the hike, and decided to pull out the picnic lunch instead.  After we had lunch, we stopped at another area along the way in hopes of reaching another waterfall, but the hike was a little too treacherous.  However, considering that we didn't actually accomplish much, we did get to enjoy the beautiful views. 

 Rick, Rebecca and their nephew Angel

 This is a sorry attempt at a family pic in front of Multnomah Falls. We were all kind of tired and irritable at this point.  Maybe it was just me, but let's just say everyone.

 I think Lincoln was ready for a nap. The poor boy could hardly hold his head up.

We Made it to Oregon!

Our summer is a bit crazy and wonderful all at the same time.  We got back from NYC, stopped in MO to see the kids, and headed back to OK for Kevin to work a day and attend a dinner event.  We then headed back to MO to fly out to OR to see Kevin's family.  We arrived and spent the first evening and the majority of the next day relaxing which is about how long it took for me to recooperate from the travel time.  I enjoy going to places, but I hate the process. I almost hate it enough to not go....almost.  Anyway, these pictures are pretty basic hot tub/pool pics, but the fact that they are in their Granmommy and Grandaddy's backyard makes them special.  The first thing they did when we arrived was head to the pool. Mind you, it's not hot here, at all.  It was a cool 65 degrees, but that wasn't going to stop these goofy girls from getting their promised swim time in.

 Swimming was followed up by smores, a little frisbee....and more swimming. 

Father's Day!

In the midst of our crazy summer schedule, it happened to work out that we were in Missouri for Father's Day. It's always nice to be able to be home for special occasions, so I was thrilled to get to spend Father's Day with a few of the men in my life.  I have come across several articles, quotes, sermons lately that talk about the lack of Godly men leading their families.  I feel very blessed that I am surrounded by men that put God first and lead by example.  It certainly makes life a little easier!  I am extremely grateful for my Father, and equally thankful for the wonderful Father of my children. I hope you all enjoyed your Father's Day, and an opportunity to celebrate with family and friends.

Kevin and the kids that were less than thrilled to take a photo.

Me and my Dad

I don't know why, but it always cracks me up to see these three together.  And even though my baby brother there on the right looks a little rough, he's a pretty good Dad too!  (Trent, you know I love you, but you have got to do something about that beard!)

NYC-Wall Street

And finally, we reached our last tourist destination before heading to the airport.  The only thing Kevin really cared about doing while we were in New York was visit Wall Street. We walked down wall street, visited the New York Stock Exchange, and of course, the Wall Street Bull, which is apparently more popular than I anticipated because we had to wait in a line to get a picture with it. 

 After we hit all the sites we had time and/or cared to see, we stopped at Crumbs Bakery for some sweets.  They were delicious.  We shared a cookies and cream cupcake, and a black and white cookie. 

This cookie may be my new favorite dessert. As if it is really possible to pick one favorite, but it's near the top of the list anyway.

That concludes our NYC adventures.  We really did have a great time overall!  It is always fun to go to new places and see things that I've never seen, but most of all, I am grateful to have time to get away from the day to day, and for Kevin and I to spend time together without the distractions of everyday life.  I'm looking forward to spending lots of time together as a family for the remainder of the summer! 

NYC-Brooklyn Bridge

After the Staten Island Ferry, the plan was to ride the subway to the Brooklyn side of the bridge and then walk back toward Manhattan.  Unfortunately, on the Brooklyn side for some odd reason, it got really cold all of a sudden, and started raining.  That made our walk a little more brisk than it would have been otherwise.  It also made it difficult to get any good pictures of the view coming into the city, but it was still beautiful. 

I tried to take a few more pictures, but the cold and rain was making Kevin a little bit irritable, so we pretty much just rushed across.  He doesn't get grumpy very often, so I figured I wouldn't torment him any more than necessary. 

Thankfully, we bought this handy, dandy umbrella the day before, and were really glad we remembered to bring it with us when the rain started coming. Funny thing was, as soon as we crossed the bridge and arrived at the Manhattan side, the skies cleared up and the rain stopped. We were able to enjoy a nice lunch outside and head to our final destination, Wall Street, by Kevin's request.   

NYC-The Staten Island Ferry

On the final day or our trip, I had several things on the agenda. Kevin actually got to spend the whole day with me before we headed to the airport that evening.  I had planned for us to ride the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, visit Wall Street and walk across the Brookly Bridge.  I am proud to say that under my planning and navigation we managed to get to each destination without any hiccups, and had time to spare before we headed to the airport. We even took the subway without getting lost.  It was quite an accomplishment. The down side is that it took us most of our visit before we figured it all out! Anyway, it was recommended by several online that the best way to get a view of the Statue of Liberty (without going to Liberty Island, of course) was to ride the Staten Island Ferry.  I thought it worked out well. There were great views of the city and the Statue of Liberty, and it best of all, it was FREE!  It was a pretty dreary day, but we still enjoyed the ride. 

 

 An attempt to get a picture of both of us that also included the Statue of Liberty.  You can kind of see her back there.

NYC-Rainy Day on Broadway

Most of the time, I like to think of myself as an intelligent, competent individual.  But sometimes, reality sets in, and my stupidity and stubbornness can't be tamed.  This was one of those days.  I have no idea what I was thinking, but I was apparently trying to prove that I could survive a rainy day in the city without buying an umbrella and still accomplish my daily objective.  I started out in the morning planning to do a little shopping, and then get in line to purchase discounted Broadway tickets at TKTS. It wasn't raining when I left the hotel, and by the time I was done with my shopping it had started sprinkling. It didn't seem like much at first, but considering I was on foot and was going to be waiting in a long line for a considerable amount of time, buying a $5.00 umbrella from a street vendor would have been a completely logical idea.  I still have no idea why I did not do this.  I don't think  most people would consider me to be cheap, and usually, I am all about convenience and what makes things easier for me.  For some dumb reason, I just couldn't bring myself to buy one.  So, I just kept walking around, had a little lunch and then headed to get in line for the tickets.  On a side note, if you do visit NYC, there are discounted tickets at this TKTS place for most Broadway shows, and you usually get great seats. It was probably worth the wait.  Although, inconveniencing myself for a discount isn't usually my style, but I really had nothing better to do, and we were trying to be frugal on our visit.  So, they opened at 2:00PM, I got in line at about 1:00PM. There were already several people in front of me, but I had a decent spot in line.  I just stood there in the rain for about and hour and a half to two hours.  Every single other person in Times Square had an umbrella.  That is not an exaggeration.  It was to the point that it wasn't the rain so much that was drenching me as the water torrenting off of the umbrellas of the people surrounding me.  A man actually came by the line selling umbrellas.  I still didn't buy one. I think I figured by now that I was completely soaked, so it didn't really matter.  A nice lady from Holland shared hers with me for a time until the line started moving, and a kind employee shared his with me at another point in line. He also inquired why I didn't have an umbrella and suggested that it might have been a good idea to buy one.  Yep, it would have, but I didn't.   I eventually made it to the front of the line and bought tickets for our show, and then walked on home soaking wet, sloshing each step in my TOMS each step of the way as the rain continued to beat against my face.  I had several people laugh and ask me if I forgot my umbrella. I didn't really have a good comeback. I'm pretty sure I just laughed and rattled off something stupid.  Surprisingly for me, it didn't put me in a bad mood, and thankfully it was warm outside, so I wasn't cold.  I guess I just knew I created the situation for myself, and there was no one for me to blame. I would like to say that I am just one of those carefree people that was enjoying a walk in the rain, but that would be a total lie.  That is so not me.  The good news is, I did get the tickets, I made it home in time to shower and clean up before heading out to the show that evening. 

This is a dumb looking picture, and you can't really tell, but this is me soaking wet upon returning from my rainy day adventure. I took it because I wanted Kevin to see what I went through to get tickets at 40% off. 

We went to see Jersey Boys.  I felt a little silly seeing Jersey Boys since it was actually playing in Tulsa, but we had seen all of the other popular ones, not on Broadway of course.  But still, we wanted to see something different. It was still raining that evening, but I did make Kevin buy an umbrella before we left the hotel so we didn't get soaked on our way to the show. 

This is a quick picture of us in Times Square before the show. 

This is us at the theater that we arrived at in plenty of time since I took over the scheduling and navigating.

Kevin in front of the theater, carrying my camera bag, not a purse:)

Me in Times Square, the proud owner of a cheap umbrella!

NYC-Toys,Dinner and Misadventure

Monday morning Kevin had to go to meetings all day, so that left me to explore.  I had plans to go to the FAO Schwarz toy store which did not disappoint, and I wanted to visit Rockefeller Center.  It was a beautiful day, and I arrived at both locations without any problems at all. I bought the kids each an overpriced gift from the toy store, and got a little sidetracked by shops on my way through Rockefeller Center, but I didn't have much on my agenda, so it was ok.

 The BIG PIANO was fun to see, but would have been much more fun if it were my kids playing on it instead of the random people I didn't know. 

 The real fun started Monday night.  Because of our frustration with the Empire State Building, I texted Kevin during the day the things I wanted to do and told him to ask his friend that had lived in NYC the best way to get to all of the places. He neglected to do so which resulted in a rough night. He did get a good dinner recommendation for the Mesa Grill which is a Bobby Flay restaurant. That meant nothing to me, but apparently that's a good thing. The food was quite delicious, and I guess it was our one meal splurge.  I like a nice meal occasionally, but if I'm being honest, I could probably eat McDonald's every day with a piece of pizza every once in a while and be pretty content. 

 After dinner we had planned to head to Wall Street and the 9/11 Memorial.  We had ridden the subway to the dinner location which Kevin told me was on our way to the memorial.  I thought we would get back on the subway to get to where we were going, but Kevin decided to walk.  I was under the impression that it was about a half mile.  Not so much. We walked, and walked, and walked.  Finally, I asked Kevin, and he informed me that it was just a bit further.  He neglected to tell me he actually had no idea how to get where we were going .  I was becoming increasingly frustrated as I did spend the whole day walking while he was working, and I was tired.  We were also starting to walk in some sketchy looking areas which made me nervous.  After about an hour and a half of wandering, we did arrive at the memorial to find that it was closed and you had to have reserved tickets online ahead of time anyway.  Super annoying, and I was becoming increasingly irritable, and I'm pretty sure at this point, Kevin was getting tired of my complaining.  We attempted the subway to get home, once again with Kevin's navigation, it took us several attempts to get to the right station on the right train going the right direction.  Kevin wasn't bothered though, he doesn't mind walking, doesn't mind being lost, doesn't mind going the wrong way on the subway.  He couldn't have cared less.  I, on the other hand, felt a little differently.  Once we finally arrived back at the hotel after walking a million miles and riding 18 subway trains, it was possible we weren't speaking.  I mentally fired Kevin from navigating by foot and subway.  I was done with the wandering and the subway craziness.  I took over. ( I know that is shocking to so many of you.)

Don't worry, I can't hold out on the not talking thing for long (although, Kevin may wish I would), so we made up pretty quickly! It was a minor setback, and once I decided to make the plans and let Kevin off the hook, we were able to thoroughly enjoy the rest of our trip! By the time we left on Wednesday, we had managed to fit in everything we wanted to do while were there!

And although this guy can drive me completely crazy and frustrate me like none other, it takes a pretty special person to put up with me, so I can't complain too much!